In part, the order said the students named in the case cant be excluded from in-person learning without consent or a quarantine order from the health department. Illinois parents file lawsuit against 145 school districts, Pritzker What to know about the ruling on Illinois school mask mandate lawsuit "We're seeing it in so many places, tens of thousands of schools across the country, have been mask optional all year long.". Pritzker's request to move a massive class-action lawsuit over the state's school mask mandate and other COVID rules to a different county. According to The State Journal-Register, Gov. "They're hollow policies and without any lawful rule and some mechanism, you can't do anything with them. It is not the children you care about.Im not sure who you represent but it is not us, said another parent.The parents from District 203 read from the temporary restraining order. What are the names of the school districts being sued over mask "This is what the overwhelming majority of Chicago parents and families support.". The legislation remains the subject of advocacy and outrage in parent Facebook groups against masking in schools. Dozens of students showed up at Naperville schools Monday maskless. Context: The protest unfolds as a Sangamon County circuit court judge prepares to rule on a lawsuit against 146 Illinois school districts mostly downstate but including CPS that challenges the mandate. Justice John Turner wrote the order. This shows yet again that the mask mandate and school exclusion protocols are essential tools to keep schools open and everyone safe.. Attorney Thomas DeVore argued a case Monday in Springfield on behalf of dozens of school staff challenging vaccine and mask mandates in schools as a violation of due process. That happened in Bond County. Effective September 23, 2022, in alignment with the California Department of Public Healths (CDPH) announcement. To facilitate safe in-person learning, the administration has provided schools across the state with 3.8 million masks for students, teachers, and staff as of January 12th. SEE ALSO | Restaurant vaccine mandate, indoor mask rules could end 'soon' if COVID cases stay in free fall. List of Schools with Masks Optional - 1340 WJOL A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Gov. J.B. Pritzker's move came hours after the Illinois Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal of a decision in a lawsuit challenging Pritzker's mask mandate. "We have zero documentation other than what we've found online," saidSean OLaughlin on Thursday afternoon. TAYLOR RIDGE, Ill. Mask requirements, quarantine, COVID-19 vaccination mandates, and testing rules are temporarily blocked for Illinois schools following a judge's ruling on Feb 4. When it comes to relaxing mitigations in schools, Fauci said, "We're not there yet. ", Abudayyeh said the governor "was encouraged that the court made it clear that school districts can continue to keep their own mitigations in place.". Mask optional on Tuesday. Leslie Renken can be reached at(309) 370-5087orlrenken@pjstar.com. "I think it's the wrong call.". Several Illinois school districts remove mask requirements - WQAD See also: Assistant school superintendent from Indiana lands top position with Ball-Chatham district. Prolific anti-COVID mitigation attorney Tom DeVore on Monday filed suit over Gov. CHICAGO (WLS) -- On Monday, Chicago Public Schools parents Kelley Escamilla and her husband gave their 3rd and 6th graders a choice: Go to school and wear a mask or don't. They didn't wear masks . This decision sends the message that all students do not have the same right to safely access schools and classrooms in Illinois, particularly if they have disabilities or other health concerns, Raoul said in a statement. This type of evil is exactly what the law was intended to constrain. Read the full ruling here. Parents from 145 Illinois school districts filed a class-action lawsuit Wednesday against their respective districts, Gov. The lawsuit begins with laying out current COVID-19 statistics in Illinois, including a calculation that the survival rate for children and young adults up to age 20 who contract the virus is 99.9973%, citing 20 COVID deaths in that cohort in Illinois since the pandemic began. Soon after the Pritzker administration adopted the suggestions, school boards across the state took the CDC's advice and applied it in many different ways; some mandating masks regardless of vaccination status, some requiring masks only for certain grades and some eschewing masks altogether. Pritzker wins injunction against 3 Illinois schools not complying with On Tuesday, the General Assembly's Joint Committee on Administrative Rulesrejected an emergency rule proposed by IDPH which would have outlined the requirements for schools to "exclude" certain students based on their exposure to COVID-19as well as require masks for students and teachers. Parents file lawsuit against 145 school districts over COVID-19 I mean obviously I'm still gonna wear it because I haven't gotten my booster yet, but I guess I'll just have to see," she said. All this is prompted by Gov. ", Earlier:Mask mandate for Illinois schools rejected by state legislative oversight committee. The bicameral committee, made up of lawmakers from both parties, rejected the rule unanimously. The judge's decision covers districts across the state but not Chicago Public Schools. The American Cancer Society said Wednesday that about 20% of new colorectal cancer diagnoses were in patients under 55 in 2019, compared with 11% in 1995. How Rockford area schools are responding to judge's ruling on mask mandate in all settings, including education. Copyright 2023 WLS-TV. The lawsuit questionsthe mask mandate and a schools ability to exclude students and deny in-person learning without a lawful order of quarantine from alocal health department. J.B. Pritzkers school mask mandate and other safety measures from being enforced statewide.After canceling classes Monday to study the ruling, St. Charles District 303 and Geneva District 304 announced they are encouraging students and staff to continue to wear masks, but will no longer require them to do so. "We have medications that can address the issue. Parents came armed with no mask signs, American flags and their children to protest mask mandates as school district employees looked down at them from their offices. A Michigan judge on Friday dismissed a school district and its employees as defendants in two wrongful death lawsuits stemming from a deadly 2021 mass shooting by a 15-year-old student armed with a gun his parents had bought him for Christmas. Craven said schools are different because most younger students are unvaccinated or can't be vaccinated age-wise and movement is different in schools versus workplaces. J.B. Pritzker's administration are asking a state appellate court to set aside a lower court order from late Friday that invalidated the mask Rockridge School District released a statement, saying they are reviewing the judge's decision and will provide an update "as soon as possible.". Pritzker's administration quickly adopted the new guidelines. Full Statement from Illinois Federation of Teachers. Geneva District 304 has declared Monday an emergency day as the schools work out what they will do regarding masks, officials announced Sunday night. Only children 12 and over are currently eligible for COVID vaccines. Judge denies class action in mask mandate case - Alton Telegraph Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Gov. "She's had three open heart surgeries and she has a low oxygen level, so for her COVID could be calamitous," said her mother Leslie Cummings. School systems cannot require masks, but individuals may choose to wear masks. Illinois has about 850 districts Read the Full Text: Judge's Ruling Halts Illinois School Mask Mandate J.B. Pritzker's emergency rules for COVID-19 mitigations in schools "null and void," effectively stopping the state's mask mandate in school buildings. (CNN/WSIL) -- A group of parents in Illinois have filed a lawsuit against nearly 150 school districts and public officials challenging mask and quarantine policies. Gov. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is seeking an appeal of a judge's ruling temporarily blocking the state from enforcing a mask mandate at dozens of school districts. When Judge Grischow announced her decision on 4:45 p.m. on Friday, her 29-page ruling didn't settle the questions about masking in school. 2 in September. If the legislature wont act to reign in these abuses, our only recourse to seek redress is the judiciary. Because it will never be perfect.". Area school districts named in the lawsuit were Ball-Chatham, Carrollton, Mount Pulaski, Petersburg PORTA, Jacksonville, North Mac, Carlinville and Staunton. CCDPH Mitigation Order 2021-10 was issued on August 23, 2021 and requires individuals age 2 and older to wear masks in indoor public settings, regardless of vaccination status. A ruling on the order blocking the mask mandate in some schools could come as soon as Thursday The Illinois Association of School Administrators on Friday said about 700 districts it has. . District 181 schools went to remote learning Monday while administrators figure out how to interpret the ruling; the district is a party in the case. Masks are required regardless of vaccination status. "Their goal is to intimidate you," one parent said. You do not need to show proof of vaccination in Chicago and Cook County. It prioritizes a relatively small group of plaintiffs who refuse to follow widely-accepted science over the rights of other students, faculty and staff to enter schools without the fear of contracting a virus that has claimed the lives of more than 31,000 Illinois residents - or taking that virus home to their loved ones. It made sense to consolidate all of them, he said, except for two lawsuits outside of Central Illinois. In granting them a temporary restraining order, Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Raylene DeWitte Grischow said the mandates violate the plaintiffs' "due process rights under the law which provide them a meaningful opportunity to object to any such mitigations.". The school district appealed, and the Fifth District Appellate Court said the restraining order had to be vacated because the lawsuit didnt name Governor J.B. Pritzer, the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Public Health as defendants, in addition to the school district. -Hinsdale/Clarendon Hills School District 181- Open Tuesday. For children in primary schools, health advice is that under 11s are exempt from wearing face coverings in national guidance ? 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The grave consequence of this misguided decision is that schools in these districts no longer have sufficient tools to keep students and staff safe while COVID-19 continues to threaten our communities and this may force schools to go remote,Pritzker said in a statement. "Its far past time we restore the system of self-governance upon which this nation was founded. "There is no rhyme or reason to have it, if people can have masks optional, that is the best decision for everyone," said Natalie Merchant, anti-mask parent. We believe what the judge ordered today is legally faulty and a threat to public health and, most importantly, a threat to keeping Illinois schools open for in-person learning. In Schaumburg's District 54, masks in school are now optional. ", Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. It prohibited schools from requiring the plaintiffs kids to wear a mask unless there was consent or a court order. As one of the districts named in the lawsuit that resulted in the temporary restraining order, administrators said removing the mask mandate for their schools was a legal decision. Several surrounding school districts, including Schaumburg, Elmhurst, Arlington Heights, Barrington and Wheaton, have chosen to make masks optional.